After last year was quite a bit chaotic, I decided that this year would be different. I will be starting my planning early – to ease up on the stress and enjoy the holiday season the way I used to, when I wasn’t running like crazy.

So, if you’ve been feeling like me, I have something really special for you this holiday season.

I am collaborating with 25 other DIY and home bloggers to bring you {drum roll please} the Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Deck the Home Blog Hop is a series of amazing Christmas DIY and home projects that we will be posting every Monday morning starting November 5th and going until the first week of December.

This gives you, my friend, plenty of time to get started with your holiday decorating and creating.

Every Monday morning, 26 DIY and home bloggers (listed in the picture above) will be sharing their themed projects! As an added bonus, on Wednesdays, I’ll be featuring one of my favorites. And, on Fridays I’ll be doing a round-up post! Below is the DIY project schedule.

Deck the Home Schedule

Week 1 – Nov. 5 – Door Decor

Week 2- Nov. 12 – Wood Projects

Week 3- Nov. 19 – Outdoor Decor

Week 4 – Nov. 26 – Gifts

Week 5 – Dec. 3 – Home Decor

How cool is that?!

Now instead of perusing Pinterest the week before Christmas looking for decorating or gift ideas, you’ll have a whole directory at your fingertips before December even comes!

Each project is DIY and home-related too. So, my friend, check back Monday morning for my first Deck the Home post of 2018. It’s something for your door 🙂

How to Keep Your House from Becoming a Mess When Kids are Sick Post Preview: Here are 7 tried and true ways to keep your home looking good when your kids are feeling under the weather. My favorite tip is #2 – as a mom, it might just be my best-kept secret.

Only two days into the new school year, my son already was under the weather.

Ugh. I knew this would happen – but after only two days of school?

Last winter, we had a terrible stomach bug hit our household. After scrubbing for hours and tossing so much away, I really learned my lesson about how to maintain the house while my kids were sick.

I’m wishing you and your kids good health as the school year progress, but if the kids do come down with something, here are some ways I’ve learned to keep the entire house from becoming a disaster while they are not feeling their best.

1. One Room is All You Need

My son has toys in every room in the house (the family room, living room, playroom, gosh they’re even toys in our bathrooms!).

When sick, rather than have him playing in his playroom one second and moving to the living room the next, tearing up the house and sneezing on everything, we usually have him play in the family room when he gets sick.

That’s the room with the TV, the cuddly blankets, and the most sunshine, so that room is perfect.

It’s much easier to deep-clean one room after a sickness than every room. This also keeps the playroom relatively germ-free, which a hard room to deep-clean, being that their are about a gazillion toys in that room.

2. Disposable Crafts are Key

Throw-away crafts are my best-kept secret…

We keep a bin of random things from around the house and add to it often – paper towel rolls, cardboard, ribbon, small boxes, chalk, etc.

When my son isn’t feeling well, we get creative and make all kinds of things – things that are hours of fun, but that you can throw away later.

We’ve made a paper towel robot, construction sites from the cardboard, a diaper box puppet theater (he wanted to keep this one haha), or sometimes he just starts cutting and gluing thing to things.

The best part of these crafts is that there is no spraying, cleaning, or sanitizing later because you just throw them away!

Huge Coloring Sheets

If you don’t have a bin of random things, there are AWESOME coloring activity sheets. They are these huge sheets that you spread on the ground with tons of random things to color. Seriously, hours of coloring time 🙂

The other day my son, in the midst of his cold, was giving me a hard time eating his lunch.

Easy Activities

So, the teacher in me spread a blanket on the floor, grabbed a couple of nearby stuffed animals and a bunch of paper products from the pantry, and said we were having a picnic.

His face lit up, he happily ate his lunch, and he played picnic for the next TWO days. He was begging for small plates, empty food boxes, and such from the pantry for his animal friends.

He was ecstatic when I gave him muffin wrappers for bowls and plastic spoons. 🙂

I was happy to provide because it was another perfect sick day activity. The food boxes and plates get trashed and the blanket and animals get tossed right in the wash. Much easier than cleaning all the play food he has. Again, I learned this the hard way.

Think about things you have around the house that could be simple fun – but are easy to dispose of later.

3. Fresh Air is Always Best

If possible, it’s always best to the kids out for some fresh air when they aren’t feeling well.

Not only is fresh air healing, but with the kids outside, the house becomes less of mess. There are tons of things you could do outside. My son’s favorites are his dirt box and his rice box.

These are just large under-the-bed plastic containers (with a lid) filled with sand, rice, or dirt and little toys. We have beach toys in the rice box and construction vehicles in the dirt box.

Kids love these, and if it gets completely germed up, just toss the contents and let the rain wash the toys.

4. Use Blankets or Slipcovers on Couches

Couches can be hard to clean, so slipcovers are a dream because you can easily wash them.

If you don’t have a slipcover, you can spread and tuck blankets over the cushions of the couch while the kids are sick. Then, you can just toss the blanket in the wash when everyone is all better.

Easy peasy – and much easier than scrubbing a couch.

5. Always Wipe Down

Even if your kids are outside or spending their time in one room, while there’s germs flying around, you’ll want to make sure you are wiping down all those frequently touched areas. Fridge, microwave, faucet, sink handles, door knobs, light switches, phones, ipads, etc. And, the floors.

Plus, keeping everything clean and shiny will make you feel better during the state of disarray.

6. Steamers Are Your Best Friend

I don’t know why it took me so long to buy a steamer, but I guess I made up for it because now I have two.

I have a floor steamer and I have a handheld/rolling steamer that’s perfect for spraying anything. (If you do buy a steamer, make sure you read the reviews. That way you’ll get one that gets really hot aka eliminates the germs).

The floor steamer is great because it will steam any type of floor – carpet or tile. And, the rolling steamer is wonderful because you can steam anything – couches, toys, stuffed animals, anything at all. I’m a little crazy and I usually wash and steam stuffed animals.

So if you are like me, a steamer will be your best friend.

7. Start Using the One-Touch Rule

Ahh, you have to use the one-touch rule. Admittedly, we aren’t the greatest at it, but it’s an amazing rule.

The one-touch rule is you touch something once. Only once.

So, say you get an Amazon box in the mail and you are unpacking a new stapler that goes in your upstairs office. Rather than leave the stapler on the kitchen table, and then maybe eventually to the bottom of the staircase, and then to the hallway table, you walk it to where it goes.

Hence, you touch it once.

Same with the cardboard box – you take it to your recycling spot. It’s seems so simple, but it’s exactly why my house looks the way it does right now 🙂

When you use the one-touch rule, you’ll be surprised at how much less cluttered your home is. When your home is less cluttered, it’s not as bad cleaning up after a sickness in the house because there is less to clean.

If sickness happens to strike your house this school year, keep these tips in mind to keep your home looking good and your sanity in tact.

Easy Christmas Popsicle Stick Ornaments for Kids to Make Preview: You’ll find out how kids can make seven different Christmas ornaments from popsicle sticks and wooden shapes with this simple tutorial. It’s a perfect Christmas craft for kids of all ages.

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is getting to enjoy the excitement of the holidays with my kids.

My son loves to do crafts with me, so we try to come up with new Christmas crafts, decorations, or ornaments to make each year. This year, we happened to have a huge box of colored wooden shapes along with popsicle sticks.

From those things, we created 7 different ornaments.

Not only did we have a blast making them, but it’s always fun to deliver them too. My son sang Jingle Bells while delivering ornaments and Christmas fudge to our neighbors 🙂 I’m sure my daughter will be joining in on the songs and crafts next year.

Without further ado, here are the instructions on these easy Christmas popsicle stick ornaments for kids to make.

Materials for Popsicle Stick Christmas Ornaments

One of the things I love about these popsicle stick ornaments is they look so pretty! You can’t tell if a kid made them or an adult 🙂

Instructions for Kids Christmas Ornaments

Instructions are pretty simple for this popsicle stick Christmas kids craft. Just set up your pieces, glue, and tie with a ribbon.

I tend to use hot glue because it works so well. So after my son put the shapes together, I glued them down. I also found that the twine a little hard to work with, but ribbon worked much better.

If you do use uncolored shapes or popsicle sticks, you’ll need to account for dry time. So, the first session would be painting the shapes and popsicle sticks, and the next session would be piecing together the shapes into ornaments.

Here are the different ornaments we made with the wooden shapes.

Christmas Tree from Popsicle Sticks

Simply take 3 popsicle sticks and shape into a triangle. Use a rectangle or square for the tree stump, a star wooden shape for the top, and decorate as you wish. We used glitter on some and ribbon on others. Washi tape would also work well.

Rudolph the Reindeer from Popsicle Sticks

Another one of my favorites – Rudolph is a fun one to make! Start with an upside down triangle. Add oval or teardrop wooden shapes for the ears. We then used googly eyes on stars for the eyes and a red heart for his nose.

Simple Star from Popsicle Sticks

For the star, take five popsicle sticks out. Start by making an upside down V with two popsicle sticks. Then make an X with two more popsicle sticks. Lay the X on top of the upside V, and you will see your star starting to take shape. You’ll place the 5 stick across the middle to finish the star.

Nativity Scene from Popsicle Sticks

This one is my favorite – so much, that we made many more of these than the others. We started by making the stable with 6 popsicle sticks (see pic). Then, we used various circle and rectangle shapes to create Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the manager. Don’t forget the star at the top!

Snowflake from Popsicle Sticks

For the snowflake you just lay four popsicle sticks on top of each other to form a snowflake-like shape. Easy peasy!

Christmas Candle from Popsicle Sticks

This Christmas candle works well if you have oval or teardrop shape wooden pieces. You’ll use that piece for the candle’s flame. Then, use rectangles or squares or a combination to build the candlestick. Lay on a short popsicle stick for a holder, and you’ll have a Christmas candle.

Santa Hat from Popsicle Sticks

The last one is the Santa hat popsicle stick ornament. You just form a triangle and then lay cotton balls or pom-poms on the bottom to create a fuzzy hat look. Don’t forget to put one cotton ball or pom-pom at the top!

Connecting Lesson

I know what you’re thinking – a lesson?! With a kids craft?! The way my former-teacher-mind works is always in the form of a lesson. So I thought, I would share it with you, just in case you could benefit from it 🙂

Toddlers: Colors. Have your child sort by color, using construction paper. Lay out the construction paper and have toddlers place the red shapes on the red paper, yellow shapes on the yellow paper, etc. (Be careful of small pieces with little ones.)

Preschoolers: Shapes. Have your child sort by shape. Cut each shape out of construction paper and have the kids place the little wooden shapes on the construction paper shape you cut out.

Kindergarteners: Patterns. Make a couple of sample patterns. Use all the same color for the first few (e.g., red circle, red square, red circle, red square). Ask your child what comes next. If they seem overwhelmed or have a tough time, pull a couple of shapes to give them a multiple choice. (e.g. “What comes next? The red circle or the yellow square?”) Gage their level and make harder patterns or have them make you a pattern! 🙂

Elementary Level: Compose Shapes. Have your child put various shapes together to create something cool – like a robot, a fox, a flower, a person, etc. Make it easier or harder by pulling shapes for them.

Fun Christmas Craft

If you’re looking for a fun Christmas craft for kids this year, you can’t find an easier one than these popsicle stick Christmas ornaments. Plus, everyone loves receiving them as little gifts!

We have been on a mission lately at the grocery stores, when online shopping, and even at the home improvement stores.

We’ve been choosing products that have the healthiest ingredients. Ones with basic ingredients, instead of long lists that we can’t pronounce. Ingredients that aren’t detrimental to our health.

If you’ve ever read the ingredients or warning signs on a regular can of paint, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

After a ton of research on paints with the best ingredients, I stumbled upon milk paint.

Milk paint is a non-toxic, water-based paint. It has been around for thousands of years – before adding solvents, toxins, and chemicals into paints was a thing.

I’ve painted tons of furniture before, and I was worried that milk paint would be hard to work with or not give me the results I wanted.

Well, my worries were met with a beautiful, easy-to-work with milk paint and that delivered the same results that a high-quality furniture paint would, without all the chemicals.

How to Milk Paint Unfinished Furniture

My husband and I were in the middle of a mudroom makeover when we started our quest for natural paint. We had built a wooden entryway bench with locker-style cubbies. It would hold backpacks, coats, hats, diaper bags, mail, shoes and more.

In our search, we were ecstatic to find Old Fashioned Milk Paint, made from just milk casein, lime, and earth pigments. The milk paint worked exactly as a high-quality furniture paint without solvents, toxins, and other chemicals that have since been added to paints. Old Fashioned Milk Paint has absolutely zero VOCs, it’s bio-degradable, and non-toxic.

Most times when you see milk paint used on Pinterest and blogs, it’s usually used to refinish an already-painted piece of furniture.

However, milk paint can also be used very easily on raw wood. And, it looks beautiful.

Milk Paint Materials

How to Mix Milk Paint

First, milk paint comes in a powder form. You simply mix it with water and then it’s ready to go.

While this is an extra step, it’s totally worth it to be painting with zero VOCs. There are also advantages to mixing your own paint. For example, you can easily create your own colors, the paint dries quickly, and it can be cleaned with simply soap and water.

To mix your Old Fashioned Milk Paint, follow these instructions.

1. Measure your ingredients.

First measure out equal parts of the milk paint powder and water. Dump these into a bucket or mixing container.

2. Add in bonding agent, if necessary.

You’ll want to figure out if you need a bonding agent mixed in your first coat. A bonding agent helps the paint to stick. It does make the first coat more watery but subsequent coats will be thicker.

Typically, if you’re using raw wood, you typically don’t need to use a bonding agent. We used the bonding agent for the first coat because we used birch to build our entryway piece. Birch is a close-grained hardwood, so we needed the bonding agent to get good coverage.

If you aren’t sure if you need a bonding agent, Old Fashioned Milk Paint has tons of information on types of wood and whether the bonding agent is needed.

3. Combine ingredients with a mixer.

To mix milk paint, we found that the paint mixer attachment on the drill worked perfectly. You can also use a regular kitchen mixer.

I’ve also used milk paint without use of a drill or electric mixer and I haven’t had as much luck, especially when mixing colors.

So you just dump your ingredients into the container and mix it very slowly for 2-3 minutes.

After your done mixing, let it sit still for 10 minutes. Then give it a good stir with the paint brush, and you are ready to start painting your wood with milk paint.

Mixing milk paint with a drill attachment

How to Paint Raw Wood with Milk Paint

Now that your paint is mixed well, it’s time to start painting that wood.

1. Make sure your wood is clean of any sawdust or dirt.

Wipe down your wood to make sure it’s ready for painting.

Unfinished wood bench ready for painting

2. Use an angled brush to put on your first coat.

We found that an angled brush works really well with furniture because you can easily get all of the nooks and crannies.

We also preferred a brush to a roller because we could control the paint better and watch for drips more easily.

If you have the bonding agent in your first coat, it will be more watery and thin. So you want to be careful of paint drips. Definitely start at the top of your furniture and work your way down. This way if you do have drips, you are painting downward and can even them out more easily.

The first coat is more about coverage than anything else. So a thin coat is fine as long as you are covering the area well. The first coat won’t look beautiful and that’s okay.

Let the coat dry and then you’ll be ready to move on.

After one coat of milk paint (with extra bond) on wooden cubby shelf

3. Stirring frequently, apply your second coat, making sure to use even paint strokes.

While the first coat was about coverage, when painting the second coat, you want to make sure that you are evenly coating your brush and evenly spreading the paint on. Take time to go over your brush strokes to make sure the paint looks smooth.

As with the first coat, start at the top of the wooden piece and work your way down. If your paint is extra drippy, use less at a time or apply a thinner coat.

If your milk paint mixture is too thick, you can add a little water at a time and mix well. The paint shouldn’t be difficult to apply or difficult to spread. You could also wet your brush a little to help.

Getting a second coat on the cubbies

4. Apply additional coats as you see fit.

Depending upon how thick or thin your paint coats were, you might need three or four coats. Or, you could need three coats and a touch-up coat. Decide what you’re comfortable with. You might put an extra coat in areas that are more visible.

Homemade bench drawers with three coats of milk paint

Remember if your paint is too thick, add a little water and stir. The paint shouldn’t be hard to apply.

Here’s a useful tip for you. Keep some sand paper handy while applying milk paint. After some coats have dried, you may notice some hardened drips you missed. Just lightly sand them down with 150 grit sand paper and cover up with the next coat. Also, when your last coat of milk paint has dried, the surface may feel a little rough as you run your hand across it. A very light sanding of 300 grit sand paper yields a super smooth finish.

Here is the finished cubby piece installed in our mudroom. The cubbies and the drawers were all painted in Snow White from Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Here’s a close-up of the drawers. The paint looks so professional. Out of all of the various furniture paints I have used, I’ve never been more pleased than I have been with milk paint.

Not only is it non-toxic and absolutely zero VOCs, but it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Homemade face plates (and drawers) with snow white milk paint

How to Seal Milk Paint

Milk paint doesn’t always need a sealer, but if the furniture is prone to spills or moisture, then sealing is a good idea. We sealed our entryway piece because the kids would be sitting in there taking their shoes on and off, hanging up their wet coats and hats, spilling their water bottles, etc.

To maximize the longevity of the milk paint, we opted to seal the finish with an acrylic type glaze. The dried milk paint already seemed pretty sturdy, but we didn’t want to risk early wear on the milk paint. We used SafeCoat AcriGlaze because of the extremely low VOC content. Applying it was very easy. We used a good quality bristle brush, and applied just two coats of the sealer, about 2 hours apart. We were very happy with the product. True to its word, it had a very low odor which dissipated quickly with a fan. The glaze dried clear. You could not tell it was even there unless you ran your finger across the wood. It was well protected.

All in all, we couldn’t be more thrilled with our milk painted entryway cubbies. The milk paint was extremely easy to use, proved itself as a high-quality furniture paint, and most importantly, it’s a safe, natural alternative to the chemical-laden paints that are out there.

Thank you Old Fashioned Milk Paint for offering a safe alternative so that we DIYers can build and create without compromising our health.

If you are looking for an easy to work with paint with zero VOCs, definitely check out Old Fashioned Milk Paint. You will love it 🙂

And as for the building of the cubby shelves, that tutorial is on its way to you next!

Everyone has a spot in their house that drives them crazy, am I right!? For me, it was our mudroom.

It was boring, barely functional, and beyond a mess.

So, we embarked on a mudroom makeover and starting building an entryway bench with locker cubbies. In the meantime, I wanted to add a little character to the walls.

With its beige walls and grayish tiled floors, the mudroom room was just so plain.

So, I had a plan to DIY my own “wallpaper” aka stencil an accent wall.

Can I just say that stencils are amazing?! I’ve used stencils before on a world map wall art project, but never on a wall. I couldn’t get over how much the stencil completely changed the look of the room. The previously boring space became completely modernized with the stenciled accent wall.

The best part?

With wall stencils, you get to choose your own colors, rather than be stuck with premade wallpaper. And, you can save money by doing the work yourself – perfect for DIYing on a tight budget.

Check out our wall stenciling video to see me in action, stenciling the wall.

Step 1 – Choose your stencil and paint colors

First, you’ll want to choose your stencil. Stencils are awesome because you can create a wallpaper effect for a really inexpensive price. We love the stencils from Stencil Revolution – you’ll definitely be oogling over their new tile line. The stencil we used is the Freya stencil and it’s part of their new line. We loved the colors they used with the stencil, so we mimicked those.

These stencils are especially easy to work with because they have registration marks, where you can easily line up each stencil with the one before. Because of these registration marks, you can get by without needing a ruler or a level.

After you have chosen your stencil, you’ll want to start thinking about paint colors for your stencil and, if necessary, the wall. Stencils don’t have to be the mono-colored. You can use two or three colors. Additionally, consider painting the wall or room, if it’s not the right background color.

We painted over our beige mudroom with white paint, as we wanted the background of our stencil to be white.

Then we chose two colors for the stencil – tan and charcoal. When you’re deciding on colors for your stencil, try them out with the stencil in a test area. I had a few different versions of tan before I settled on my favorite. You can try the wall stencil on an area of your wall that will be covered (I tried mine where the shiplap was going) or you can use a foam board.

Paint Tip: When choosing paint for the stencil, it doesn’t need to be wall paint. You can use acrylic paint from the craft store. Using the small acrylic containers from the craft store make it really easy to test colors too.

Step 2 – Prepare the wall

Next, you want to prepare your wall. If you are painting the wall first, you’ll want to do that now.

If you want to wipe down your wall or the baseboards or tape off any area, you’ll want to prepare that before starting to stencil.

Side note – If you’re painting your wall white over a darker color like we did, it can take extra coats to get back to white. Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about your project timeline.

Step 3 – Decide where you want your stencil to start

Choose an ideal starting point for your wall stencil. Ideally, this is the spot where you’ll want your wall stencil to look the best. The most visible part of the room is always a good choice.

Keep in mind that at the opposite end of the wall, depending upon the length of your wall and the size of the stencil, the last stencil could cut off. When you’re making your starting decision, factor in the opposite end or ends of the wall.

Depending upon your stencil’s design, you could nudge your starting point just a little bit to help the opposite end terminate at a better point.

Or if you get really lucky, the stencil might fit perfectly across the whole wall.

I started the stencil right next to the window, as this part of the wall was the most visible when walking into the room. The stencil cut off at the opposite end of the wall, but I started the first stencil a half an inch inward, so the last stencil would cut off exactly halfway. I was okay with it cutting off there because that end was in a more hidden corner of the room.

Note – The starting point for the stencil doesn’t necessarily need to be where you first start painting. It’s just where the stencil pattern starts. You could begin painting in a less visible area, such as toward the ceiling, so that any early mistakes are made high up, where people won’t be able to see.

Step 4 – Secure stencil to the wall

Next, you’ll want to attach the stencil to the wall. To do so, I just used four pieces of painter’s tape. It was super simple. When you’re done, you just peel the stencil and tape off and move to the next spot.

Some people like to use a spray adhesive, but I found that unnecessary. The tape was very simple.

Step 5 – Use a small rounded brush to start dabbing on the paint.

Now the fun part! To stencil the accent wall, you’ll want to use a rounded, stiff brush to stencil your wall. If the brush is too soft, it will bend. The best brushes are rounded that come to a point.

With your rounded brush, you are just going to dab the end of your brush in the paint. Do this as evenly as you can, and then blot the extra paint. This is important because if your paint is too thick, it will slip under the stencil and cause unclean lines. A little paint goes a long way.

As soon as your paintbrush is ready, gently dab it onto the wall. When you’re painting the wall, don’t use brush strokes, just stipple it onto the wall.

Now it won’t be perfect. But with a small amount of paint and a small rounded brush, it will be pretty close.

If your stencil isn’t flush against the wall, you can use your marker or pencil to hold the stencil flush against the wall with one hand, while you paint with another. I used a drill bit, rather than a marker, because it was the first thing I found 🙂

Brush Tip: As for brush size, keep in mind that a smaller brush will get you more accuracy and a bigger brush will get the job done faster. You could use a bigger brush in higher areas, where people won’t be able to see up close (because it goes faster) and a smaller rounded brush in lower areas.

Step 6 – Remove stencil and repeat

Simply peel back the stencil and remove. If there are any stray marks, you could always wipe with a paper towel or a baby wipe before it dries.

Then, line the stencil up with the registration marks (see above) and work on your next stencil.

It will be slow going at first, but like anything, it gets quicker as you get used to it.

A Few More Wall Stenciling Tips

For our mudroom wall, I only stenciled the top third of the wall. On the lower part, I attached shiplap, which made for a really cool look.

I also ended up stenciling more than I thought. My plan was to just stencil the wall around the window, but I kept going around the doorway of the laundry room. If you are undecided on whether to continue the stencil on a neighboring wall, you can start with the wall that you are sure about. Then, go from there.

Stencil Cut-Off Tip: If you are doing a lot of stenciling and your wall stencil cuts off at the corner or around a window, you could do a couple of things. You could simple bend the stencil and tape it. I would use a lot of tape so it doesn’t slide when you are painting. It’s a little tricky to do but that’s what I did (see picture above).

Or, you could order more than one stencil, and cut the stencil so that you have a flush fit when stenciling around windows and near corners.

Here’s a close up of the finished wall, with the stencil at the top third, and the shiplap at the bottom.

Next, we put shiplap on the lower portion of wall, and we have a full tutorial coming on this! It was super simple 🙂

Here’s a few more pictures of the other side of the room, including the portion above the laundry room nook.

And, I just adore these hooks! They look perfect with the stencil and the shiplap. I think there’s about 16 of them in the mudroom now 🙂 They’ll be no excuses for bags and coats not hung up.

Go for it!

If you’re debating whether or not to stencil a wall, definitely go for it. Stenciling a wall is an easy, budget-friendly DIY. With a little bit of work, you can completely transform the look of a room.

If you love the way the shiplap looks on our accent wall, that post is coming next, and our whole mudroom makeover will soon follow.

So, there we have it! A completely transformed room with something as simple as a wall stencil. If you are looking for a thrifty way to redo an old space, definitely consider stenciling an accent wall.

Even though we moved into our home years ago, we still had way too many bare walls in our home.

The walls were my last priority in getting ourselves unpacked and settled. So, picture frames sat in boxes in the garage for months and months.

What I didn’t know in my procrastination was that I could have been using all that blank wall space to our advantage.

Wall space isn’t just for pictures – it’s a gem of versatility! From floating shelves to accent walls to cool wall hangings to easy DIY wall art ideas, here are six easy DIYs for your walls so they will no longer be bare or boring.

1. Build Simple Shelves

One of my favorite spots in our home is my craft room, which is just a sitting room off our bedroom. When we moved in, we had no idea what we were going to do with it. Ha! I’ve completely taken it over with craft supplies.

When I had filled every inch, I moved to the walls.

We built two simple shelves with the dimensions to fit four fabric storage bins on each. That’s eight storage bins – filled to the brim – and not taking up any closet or desk space!

If you’re running out of space in your home, take a look at your empty walls, and see where you could put up a few storage shelves.

2. Make a Cool Wall Hanging

It’s hard to find the perfect wall hanging to go over couches and beds because they need to be so big to look nice. And, art is expensive! So, why not DIY it?

3. Create Gallery Wraps

Simply purchase a few canvases from the craft stores, and then find some wall decals that fit the theme of the room. Paint the canvases and then apply the wall decals. I painted some a solid blue and others striped. The striped ones added some extra flair.

You could also use stencils on these gallery wraps too. These are great for nurseries or kids rooms.

And, if the decals come up easily, you can swap out the decals for other ones as the kids grow up.

These canvases are definitely a go-to project for easy DIY wall art ideas.

4. Put Together Scrap Wood Picture Ledges

These picture ledges were free! Yes, you read that right 🙂 We made them out of scrap wood laying around the garage (I love a good scrap wood project) and painted them with paint we had on hand.

The little ledge at the end is perfect for holding picture frames, and I emptied an entire box of frames. The picture frames perfectly took up the wall space in between two windows.

Not only were the ledges free, but it took just a few hours to put together.

5. Spray Paint Frames for an Artistic Gallery

If you’re looking to make a gallery but can’t find enough frames that will compliment each other, use spray paint.

I had an entire gallery of brown wooden frames, but two of the embroidered pictures had frames that just didn’t go.

With a little painter’s tape and some spray paint, the pictures now fit perfectly.

Galleries are a fun way to hang pictures – especially in hallways or staircases. It can definitely add some character to these places.

6. Create an Accent Wall

I love a gorgeous accent wall, and it’s an amazing way to bring character and flair to your space.

There are so many ways to create an accent wall – you can wallpaper, you can stencil an accent wall, or you can paint – a whole wall one color or a simple striped wall.

One of my favorite things about an accent wall is it saves you from painting the whole room – just updating one wall usually is enough.

7. Hang Pegboard for Office or Craft Supplies

This is another of my favorite DIYs from my craft room.

By installing pegboard, I was able to empty my entire desk. In fact, I got rid of my desk of drawers for a much simple table-desk design.

I didn’t know if I would like the pegboard because I would have to put everything back always (something I’m not great at), but I LOVE it! It looks so cool, and I can see everything.

Also, I don’t get asked questions by my husband and kids about where my scissors or markers are because everything is in plain sight. My son has a little spot on the edge, where he stores his markers and paint brushes too.

If you have overlooked wall space in your home, turn it into a fun DIY project.

You can use wall space for storage – floating shelves, storage shelves, pegboard organization, or built-in cabinets. You can use the space for fun décor to add a little style in. You easily update or modernize your home with cool pictures or wall hangings with these easy DIY wall art ideas.

Wall space is undoubtedly a little gem that can be used in efficient or creative ways. If you’re looking to add a little flair to your walls, definitely try one of the above DIYs.

I was knee deep in decorations, games, and food planning for my sister’s bridal shower when an idea hit me.

A few years back, I made a Year of Firsts wedding wine basket for my friend’s bridal shower. It went over so well, and I had planned to make one for my sister too. However, the teacher in me always has to improve on previous ideas. 🙂

Instead of making a Year of First Milestones, I would make a Year of Dates wedding gift basket.

The basket would include a planned and paid for date for every month of their first married year.

My sister and her fiance were always looking for new things to do in the city, and this was the perfect opportunity to make a special DIY wedding gift for them.

My sisters and I always watch “The Bachelor” together. And by together, I mean we watch it at exactly the same time and send tons of group texts back and forth.

So planning 12 dates made me feel a little like Chris Harrison.

I wasn’t sure how the Year of Dates wedding gift was going to come together, but I knew there would be date cards and roses involved 🙂

How to Make a Year of Dates Gift Basket

1. Set a Budget

I shared the idea with my mom and sisters and asked if they wanted to go in on it with me. That way we could plan some really nice dates for the Year of Dates wedding gift. I was happy to hear they loved the idea.

You can make the dates as expensive or inexpensive as you’d like. Or, you could vary it like we did.

Some of the attractions we included were free, so we could make other dates more expensive.

Once you set your budget, divide by 12 so you know around how much you can spend on each date.

2. Collect Materials – Free Year of Dates Printables

To make the Year of Dates gift basket, I used the following materials. The printables and templates are available for you to download too.

Items/trinkets to go with the dates (see below for explanation & ideas)

Dates cards (free printable)

Spreadsheet for organization (free printable)

Month labels (free printable)

Year of Dates Sign and skewer (free printable)

I started by making an Excel spreadsheet to track all of the information for the Year of Dates wedding gift. I seriously am in love with spreadsheets, and this was the easiest way to organize everything.

On this Year of Dates spreadsheet, there’s a column for the date venue, date card poem, website, address, helpful hints, cost, item/trinket, and the months (so you don’t plan an ice skating date in the summer),

The item/trinket was my favorite part, but more on this later. To download the free Year of Dates printables, see below. 🙂

3. Research Date Ideas

The next thing I did was start researching things to do in their city. I found lots of great blogs and articles with tons of ideas for date nights.

Before I finalized any of the 12 dates, I read the reviews of the places on Trip Advisor. That’s the absolute best way to find out if a museum, restaurant, or attraction is worth the time.

Before we had kids, my husband and I used to travel constantly. I would research our destinations for hours before making our very detailed itinerary, and Trip Advisor always had the most accurate and detailed reviews. For the Year of Dates wedding gift, I used the detailed reviews to make a “helpful hints” list for each date. More on this later 🙂

When researching the 12 dates, we stayed away from any potential idea where we had to lock in a certain date because we had no idea what their work schedules are like. So any festivals, concerts, or games were out.

As soon as a date attraction/venue looked good, I added it to my Year of Dates Excel list.

4. Choose an Item/Trinket for the Basket

In putting together the 12 Months of Dates gift, my sister had the idea of putting an item or trinket with each date. So instead of just giving an envelope with the date card and money or tickets, there was a cute little trinket too.

So, we creatively found items to go with each of our 12 date ideas.

For example, we picked up beer cozies to go with the beer tour date. We included a pack of colored pencils and a little sketchbook to go with the art museum trip.

We found a easily-foldable blanket for their picnic, cute mason jar cups with champagne to go with their beach date, and hot cocoa and hand warmers for the Christmas tree lighting. Other items we got were a fancy wine cork, magnets, star book, walkable map for their tour, photo album with a map on the cover, and a chocolate bar to go with a chocolate tour.

These little trinkets can add up so I suggest going to Target’s Dollar Spot section or using a coupon at the craft stores. I love the idea of trinkets because it really made for a nice gift basket. It made the Year of Dates wedding gift so much more than envelopes of money.

5. Make the Date Cards

For the date cards, we wrote Bachelor-style poems for each of the 12 dates. Here’s an example of one:

A free outdoor pool that’s located by the Charles, a bike path, and a Trader Joe’s,
you’ll have a blast at this best kept secret if you accept this rose.

On the back, we wrote:

“Should you accept this rose, enjoy your date at:”

Here we filled in the date venue, address, and website. We also included any helpful hints, such as the hours the pool was open and the availability of bathrooms/changing rooms/lockers. We used the information in the reviews on Trip Advisor to compile the Helpful Hints for each of the 12 dates.

It’s the same research that I would have done if I were going there, and since everyone isn’t a crazy researcher like I am, I’m sure the helpful hints were appreciated.

And remember, I have the date card template that I created available for free for you. 🙂

6. Acquire gift cards or tickets (or cash)

For as many of the dates as could, we got gift cards or tickets. Being out of town, we couldn’t pick up everything we wanted – but lots of places were able to mail us these or we were able to buy/print online.

Keep in mind that since it is a year of dates, some of the dates won’t happen for several months. For those far-off dates, we tended to include cash – just in case the place went out of business or went downhill before their scheduled date.

We also included cash if there were any places that we were unsure about. For example, we included a museum that looked like my sister would love it; however, we weren’t sure if she’s been there before. If she’s already been there 4 times, she might not want to return. So, we did cash for that one – and she can decide.

7. Put everything together!

I wasn’t sure how I was going to present the Year of Dates wedding gift. I was thinking maybe a cooler bag, and then they could use that for their picnic. However, I felt that this wouldn’t be the best presentation because you wouldn’t be able to see everything.

I ultimately went with a gift basket and really thick burlap lace ribbon for the envelopes and items. This gave all the assorted trinkets a uniform look.

Also, I didn’t want the money or tickets to get lost. So, I bought these organza pouches. These pouches made it easy for the recipient to keep track of money or gift cards.

Then, I put the date card and the organza pouch in little colorful envelopes. I printed the month labels (free printables) and glued them on the cards. This also contributed to a uniform look.

I found a nice basket at Michaels for the 12 Months of Dates wedding gift and got to work filling it up.

Then, I used the burlap lace ribbon to wrap around the items and then I slipped the envelope in. Between the monthly labels (free printable) and the burlap ribbon, it tied together all the “random” trinkets we picked up. I stuffed some tissue paper at the bottom to keep items in place.

I also printed off a Year of Dates poem and taped it to a little wooden skewer.

Last, when doing my research for the Year of Dates basket, I found out that you can get free or discounted passed to many places in their city through their library.

So I added a little “Bonus” date card and printed out the list of places they could go by reserving the tickets in advance at their local library.

The Year of Dates wedding gift went over so well! My sister loved it so much and is excited to check out lots of new places around the town.

It’s such a creative gift to give 12 planned and paid for dates, and I know they really appreciated it. I love giving a gift that’s creative and shows that you put a lot of thought in.

The Year of Dates gift basket really came together so well. Maybe if my husband is lucky, I’ll make him one for Valentine’s Day or his birthday 🙂

Moving into our home, one of the most appealing things was the fresh white paint that adorned the entire house.

Glossy white paint.

This new space of ours was definitely light, bright, and airy.

However, before long we realized just how plain the rooms were. The bright white walls along with the off-white carpets and our neutral furniture made for some really boring spaces.

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, it was easy to see that neutral-colored rooms are definitely gorgeous and in style. Neutral colors make rooms feel larger, fresher, and more welcoming.

The neutral color scheme in our new home was a good start for us, but we needed to incorporate some color to add character and expression to our new home.

If you are finding yourself in the same position, check learn how to add color to neutral rooms on a budget.

Add Vibrant Throw Blankets

One of the easiest ways to add color to neutral rooms is by incorporating throw blankets. A cozy blanket tossed over a patterned chair or the arm of the couch adds color, comfort, texture, and style to your home.

Blankets can work in any room – but are especially perfect for adding color to living rooms or bedrooms. We tend to decorate our kids’ rooms in neutrals and then use pops of color here and there. Throw blankets are a really easy way to bring color into a room in a subtle, thrifty way.

Decorate with Expressive Throw Pillows

Throw pillows are another perfect way to add color and character to neutral spaces. For example, if you want to incorporate navy blue into your living room, you might not want blue walls, a blue couch, or a blue carpet. Yet, adding blue throw pillows is a subtle way to bring in a vibrant color.

For my living room and family room, I went digging in my collection of pillow covers to find something that would add some color and texture to our boring rooms. I love having pillow covers on hand. You aren’t stuck with a ton of pillows when you change your style or mind – and you can much more easily store covers than whole pillows.

You can also easily sew pillows and save money. Just grab a fabric you like and a pillow insert or stuffing, and get cracking at that sewing machine.

One of my favorite ways to save money on pillow-making is through buying throw pillows that are severely discounted- no matter the color or style! I’m talking crazy colors and patterns. Instead of buying a pillow insert or stuffing, I use the discounted throw pillow as the insert and just sew a pillow cover. You can get really great prices at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on these.

Another place to get a great price on pillows and pillow covers is Amazon. They have pillows similar to Pottery Barn and Pier 1, but at much better prices. I ordered the below bird pillow years ago, and it’s still so gorgeous.

Accent pillows are the perfect way to bring in vibrant colors

Beautify with Plants and Greenery

Plants can instantly change the appearance of a room. Just by adding a little greenery, your neutral room becomes more lively and homey. Plants are definitely an easy way to add color – no painting or sewing necessary.

If you don’t have a green thumb, a high-quality artificial plant adds the same effect. We have a beautiful, artificial ficus tree (below) from Commercial Silk in our family room.

This ficus tree looks real but doesn’t come with the task of keeping a real plant alive. We incorporated it into our living room, and it’s the perfect pop of color against our red brick fireplace.

Adding plants and greenery to neutral spaces instantly make a room feel more welcoming

It’s nice knowing the leaves won’t brown, and it instantly made the room feel more welcoming and enlivened while adding some much needed color to our previously-boring space. It’s like a breath of fresh air!

Paint Old Furniture

If you have an old piece of furniture that has seen better days, why not give it a coat of fresh paint to add color into a neutral room. Whether it’s an old chair or an outdated dresser, there are lots of wonderful paints that can be used to give an old piece new life.

Chalk paint or milk paint are great options. Depending on the piece, you might even be able to get away with spray paint.

We recently redid an old dresser (we shortened it too), and it perfectly adds color to our way-too-neutral bedroom.

This old wooden dresser was refinished with milk paint, bringing color and modernity into our neutral bedroom

Add Patterned or Stenciled Walls

Accent walls are another thrifty way to add color to a neutral space, and there are so many options that you can choose from. You can do a patterned wall, such as stripes. Or, you can do a solid color wall (if you do this, definitely pick a color in the same tone as your main color). You can even do a stenciled wall – or put decals or wallpaper up.

We painted a gray and white striped accent wall in our nursery – which we loved! We painted a heart stenciled wall in our second nursery. We applied wall stickers on canvases in our toddler’s room. And, we have a stenciled wall coming soon to our mudroom.

Each of these things added just the perfect amount of color and flair to our neutral rooms. And, we didn’t have to change the glossy white in the rest of the room because the patterns and stencils complimented what was already there. Thus, we saved money on paint by just doing an accent wall.

A stenciled or wallpapered accent wall is a simple solution to a room of white

Adorn with Wall Hangings and Pictures

Don’t underestimate the creativity and color that you can add to your home by decorating your wall space. A bright picture or an interesting gallery wall brings character and color to a room. Also, you can easily spray paint frames for a little more color too.

I also love to find a vibrant picture and use the colors in it as an inspiration piece to decorate the whole room.

My favorite spots to shop for budget-friendly pictures are Home Goods and Christmas Tree Shops. You can also find some great pieces at the craft stores, as they are carrying more and more home decor items.

Enrich with Fresh Slipcovers

If your couch or upholstered chairs are looking a little too neutral, and you want to add freshness or vibrancy, think about throwing a slipcover over them.

Slipcovers add color and aren’t as expensive as replacing couches or chairs and the comfort they provide. You can also easily wash them.

Slipcovers might be just the touch of color that your space needs.

Use Eye-Catching Duvets

Along the same lines as slipcovers, duvets provide a similar solution. They can easily cover an old bedspread to add color and freshness to a room.

Easily washable, you can switch out duvets based on the season or your mood – and they are much less expensive then buying new quilts or bedspreads.

Hang Vibrant Curtains

An easy way to add color to a room is through hanging vibrant curtains. There are so many options with curtains – from popular patterned designs like Moroccan and damask to simple stripes. Curtains are one of the best ways to infuse your neutral living room or bedroom with color.

If you have a neutral bathroom, add a vibrant shower curtain. We added a green plant shower curtain to our brown and tan bathroom, and instantly it softened the appearance of the room.

When thinking about how to add some vibrancy to your rooms, think about letting the sun sweep in with an eye-catching curtain.

Eye-catching curtains add tons of character and color to living rooms and bedrooms

Incorporate Accent Rugs

There’s no reason color has to stop when the wall ends. Add a little more style and flare with a smartly-colored accent rug.

Committing to a bright carpet can be daunting; however an accent rug is just the flare that a neutral room needs. They’re easy to add, move, or clean, and can go anywhere in your home – from the kitchen to the entryway to little reading nooks.

If your home is looking a little too neutral, delight your eyes with a gorgeous accent rug.

So, if you’re looking to add color to your spaces, these top ten tips are definitely ones to incorporate.

You’ll have your home looking much more expressive, homey, and vibrant without spending much. Even just a few of these home decor tips will work wonders.

I was picking apples at the grocery store when my toddler asked, “Mommy, are those organic?” I laughed, thinking how he repeats absolutely everything he hears.

My husband and I have really made the push toward more natural and organic living, and it started in our kitchen.

While purging the pantry the other day, I was ready to toss some instant coffee. Before it hit the trash can, I wondered if I could use this to stain wood.

I’ve heard of staining wood with tea and steel wool, but I was interested to see if I could make a chemical-free stain.

Long story short, you can make a chemical-free, natural stain using just a few items from your pantry. Not only does this homemade stain save you money but it spares you from working with harsh chemicals.

Making Homemade Wood Stain that’s Chemical-Free

If you are looking to save a few bucks or to avoid the smells that come from store-bought wood stain, follow these simple instructions to make your own DIY wood stain. It’s simple and easy – and you get great results!

DIY Wood Stain Materials

I experimented with a bunch of mixtures to see what kind of colors they produced, and I encourage you to do the same. Write down the mixtures you make, so you see what you like and can easily replicate it. Below I’ll be sharing the mixtures I created. However, color could vary based on the brand and type of ingredients.

Scrap wood – I used a piece of pine leftover from another project

Coffee – I used two types – just a regular instant coffee and a special caramel latte.

Cocoa powder – I used Hershey’s Special Dark (because that’s what I had on hand)

Making Wood Stain from Coffee and Chocolate

I gathered all of my materials ahead of time. With two little ones, DIY time is hard to find. So, I had all of my ingredients ready to go and jumped right into the project while my toddler was finishing up his dinner. I use every minute of the day 🙂

First, I put on a pot of tea, so I had piping hot water to use to mix the wood stain. I decided to make three mixtures. So, I filled three masons jars up a little more than halfway with the hot water.

In the first mason jar, I dropped fourtea bags in.

In the second mason jar, I put two heaping spoonfuls of regular instant coffee and one heaping spoonful of cocoa powder.

And, in the third mason jar, I put two heaping spoonfuls of specialty coffee (caramel latte) and one heaping spoonful of cocoa powder.

I mixed each of them up and let them sit for 5-10 minutes.

As I was waiting for the mixtures to gain strength, I thought about how awesome it was that I could stain the wood on my kitchen table AND with my kids around! No awful fumes and no exposure to chemicals – such a win!

Not to mention, the coffees and chocolate smelled lovely – and when my little guy was done with his dinner, he helped me “paint.”

After that, I simply used the foam brush to apply the stain to the piece of pine scrap wood. The first coat was really light. You can use a hair dryer to speed up dry time, or just wait and keep reapplying.

I did three or four coats of each. Just don’t let your mixtures sit out for days – because they might grow some strange stuff inside.

Pictured below is an image I snapped after the first coat.

After a couple more coats, I was starting to see some nice colors come through.

Below is picture I snapped while the wood was still drying.

DIY Wood Stain Results

I left the piece to dry overnight and was surprised to see how the wood dried. The DIY stain looked awesome!

As far as each of the three mixtures, I found that the tea barely changed the wood color.

However, the tea would make for a GREAT homemade pre-stain, rather buying store-bought pre-stain filled with chemicals.

The wood absorbed the tea really nicely and worked just like a pre-stain would.

The two coffee mixtures were really close in color when they dried, yet I was pleased with both of them.

If you are aiming to make a darker stain, you can experiment with adding more chocolate and coffee. Just remember to write down what you did, so that you can do it again.

Seal it!

If you’re making this wood stain for a project, definitely seal it afterward. You can make a DIY stain sealer with beeswax or there are a few more natural options too. I like Annie Sloan’s furniture wax, but I’ll be DIYing a beeswax sealer in the near future.

I’ll be updating this post to let you know how the color has held up – so check back for updates.

Also, if you would like to see a project featuring this homemade wood stain from coffee and chocolate, check back later this week for my DIY hook rack project.

If you are trying to make the switch to more natural ingredients in your home, try experimenting with this homemade, chemical-free wood stain.

The wood stain is free if you have all the common household items. If you don’t, you won’t need to spend more than a few bucks. Save money and spare yourself the fumes from regular stain. Your nose will thank you 🙂

Looking for a fun DIY project to work on? If you have some wooden boards lying around and a saw, here’s a one hour project that’s sure to be a puzzling hit with the kids.

For our little one’s recent birthday, Eileen and I decided to throw a puzzle theme party. We had the idea to make a giant jigsaw puzzle as a fun yard activity for the kids.

My son is always watching (and pretend helping) me build projects around our home, so I thought that he would love that I was working on a special project for his birthday.

So, I made a 3-foot tall custom-made puppy puzzle.

It was a cute puppy with vibrant colors and caught all of the kids’ eyes. It was really easy to put together too. But most importantly, my son loved it.

When assembled, the puzzle was even firm enough to be a standing toy dog. So, it worked as a fun prop for photos too, especially since it was almost as tall as the kids at the party.

How to Make an Oversized Wood Jigsaw Puzzle

When figuring out how to make an oversized wood jigsaw puzzle, I started with some 10” wooden squares, each ¾” thick.

Making the squares was easy as I just bought a piece of 1 x 10 x 6 board from Home Depot and cut it into five 10” pieces (well, technically 9.25” pieces as that was the true width of the board).

Then I laid out the boards and sketched a simple outline of a dog.

I used silhouettes from dog images online as inspiration for my own design. After I was happy with the sketch, I moved to the garage to complete the puzzle.

To cut out the design, I tried both a jigsaw and a scroll saw. The scroll saw worked out to be the easiest method.

Funny thing about this scroll saw is that I picked it up from the local Habitat for Humanity store for $5. It looks like it’s from the ‘70s too, but it worked like a charm.

If you don’t have a jigsaw or scroll saw, a regular hand (or hack) saw can work just as well, just a bit slower.

After the pieces were all cut, I placed them in a clamp and sanded the edges smooth.Next I had to attach all the interlocking pieces. One disadvantage of cutting my design out of squares was that the interlocking puzzle connectors would need manual attachment.

I cut the interlocking pieces out of the adjacent pieces. Then I opted to use pocket hole screws for attaching them. My Kreg pocket hole jig made this a super easy task. This was the fastest method for me, and also made for a very sturdy connection.

Here I am drilling some of the pocket holes:

I also labeled each connection so I would not attach the wrong piece on accident, and put some alignment marks to make sure they were in the correct position (or else the puzzle would look misaligned).Soon all the connectors were attached and the puzzle construction was complete.

The last step was painting. I used kid-friendly acrylic paints that Eileen had on hand. As far as colors, I used various bright colors.

The puppy puzzle was all done. I tested it with our little one and he loved it. He quickly put it together and started petting it.

This project fast, easy and cheap. It took only an hour to make, was a simple design and cost $11 for the board. It can easily be extended to other designs too.

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Thanks for visiting! We are Ash and Eileen, husband and wife DIY bloggers. We love working on projects in and around our home. We hope our stories inspire you to check a few things off your project list! 🙂Read more